A Journey Through the Ages
by Indigofaery
Summary: Yuna and Tidus go back to Zanarkand to share the famed Zanarkand sunrise when Tidus mysteriously fades away again and ends up someplace he's never seen or heard of. Now Yuna must find him before time runs out... or she may never see him again.
1. Returning to Zanarkand

A/N: Okay, so this is my first fanfic, so try not to be too harsh on your reviews. Criticism is welcomed as long as you're not too harsh!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the final fantasy characters, or any of the games, or any of the merch, etc. the list goes on. Well, I did buy the game.. but I don't own it.. okay I'm getting ahead of myself here. Enjoy the fic!

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** Prologue**  
  
It was finally over. After two painful years without the one she loved, he was back. She didn't even care about the fact that people stopped to stare at her in the streets, she did, after all, save Spira twice. Not that any of that mattered anymore, though, all that mattered was that he was back. Now her long journey of searching had finally paid off. She could now greet each day with a smile.  
  
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** Chapter One - Returning to Zanarkand**

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"See, I told you I'd show you Zanarkand one day," bragged Tidus  
  
"Yeah, _your _Zanarkand, I've already seen _this_ one you goofball," Yuna teased as she shoved him off the small cliff and into the pond below.   
  
"HEY! What did you do that for?!" Tidus yelled up at Yuna.   
  
"Because I can!" giggled Yuna as she jumped in after him, splashing Tidus in the face. Suddenly Yuna took on a more serious tone."Tidus..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Promise me you'll never ever leave me again."  
  
"Now why would I want to do that?" asked Tidus, worried that she was going to say something he didn't want to hear.  
  
"I never said you wanted to," Yuna replied, hugging Tidus and putting the side of her face against his chest. "I just don't want anything to happen to us again."  
  
"Here, I have an idea," Tidus said as he reached for his trademark necklace. "Wear this, and if anything ever happens, I'll have more than one reason to find you again."   
  
Yuna loosened her hug on him and Tidus placed the necklace around her neck. They pulled into another embrace but Yuna had the funny feeling that something was wrong. Looking up at Tidus' face, she found a horrified expression. "Tidus? What's wrong?" she asked, scared by the look on his face.  
  
"Yuna... something's happening.." Tidus said, as his hair suddenly started looking more and more transparent.  
  
"NO! Tidus! You can't!" Yuna sobbed.  
  
"The Fayth said they wouldn't... why is this happening?"  
  
Tidus then became too transparent for Yuna to keep her hold on him, and she fell through him once again. As soon as she hit the water, she was turned around, hoping that what was happening to Tidus really wasn't. But all she saw was the grey-brown of the cliff in front of her.

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A/N: Yes, this first chapter is kinda short, but it's my first fic so cut me some slack please. Reviews on my first chapter would be greatly appreciated, I'll get the second chapter up as soon as I get an un-blockage of writer's block. Thanks for reading . 


	2. Where in Spira is Vancouver?

A/N: Woo, second chapter already. Writers block actually went away! Freaky-odd o.O. So, this chapter's a bit longer than the first, but not really as long as I hoped it would be, but oh well. Hopefully whoever's reading this will enjoy it, reviews are always welcomed!

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** Chapter two - Where in Spira is Vancouver?**

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((Tidus' POV))  
  
_'Why am I so cold....?'  
_  
I was lying flat on my back, and I think I had hit my head on something because I had the hugest headache I'd ever experienced in my life. I took my hand and gingerly touched the back of my head. Shit. That hurt. Slowly I opened my eyes, squinting against the brightness, it was only making my head feel worse. I could see the dim outlines of something standing over me. People? I opened my eyes a bit more.  
  
"He's moving!"  
  
"You think he'll be okay?"  
  
"Who is this kid? He's dressed funny..."  
  
_'What the hell?'_ I thought to myself as I opened my eyes a bit more. Opening one eye fully I could see the crowd standing around me in a circle. It kinda reminded me of those circles kids would form on the playground when someone got hurt. Great.  
  
"Hey, buddy, you ok?" asked a boy about seventeen years old.   
  
"Uh.. yeah.. I guess.." I muttered. "Where am I?"  
  
"Downtown Vancouver, bud. You musta hit your head pretty hard." the kid answered, and with a worried look at me he helped me to my feet. Shit, that made me dizzy.   
  
"Vancouver? Where the hell is that?" I asked. I'd never heard of any Vancouver, and I'd been all over Spira when I was Yuna's guardian on her pilgramage to Zanarkand two years ago. Yuna... where the hell was she?  
  
"Earth to Tidus, it's in Canada. You know, North America? Earth?"  
  
"Uh.. how did you know my name?" _'and where the hell is Canada? What's this 'Earth' you're talking about?'  
_  
"Found your ID in your wallet, guy. So, you seriously don't know where you are?" asked the kid. Okay, he was starting to get on my nerves. Was this some sort of trick that Wakka planned?  
  
"Ah, I see... You know where I can find a pay-sphere?" I needed to call Yuna.. maybe she knew what this was about.  
  
"A pay-sphere? Woah, buddy, we need to get you to a hospital or something, I think you hit your head pretty damned hard." The kid answered. Okay, so much for the idea of calling Yuna. This kid didn't even know what a pay-sphere was. He said I hit my head pretty hard? Where'd he been living, a hole for the past thousand years? "Follow me. By the way, my name's Trent. Nice to meet ya."  
  
Now that the crowd had dispersed, I could take in my surroundings. There were tall buildings on each side of me, and for the first time I realized how bad the air smelled here. What the hell was that smell, anyway? Whatever it was, it was disgusting. This Vancouver place almost reminded me of my Zanarkand, except... different somehow. There were no airships anywhere in sight, although I thought I saw something like one fly overhead at one point. Trotting to keep up with Trent while taking in my surroundings was proving to be hard. A lot of people kept looking at me funnily, although I don't know why. My clothes? Someone had made a comment about them earlier when I was coming-to on the ground. Okay, something was not right. Why was I the only one dressed this way? A lot of males who passed me were dressed in stiff looking jackets and matching pants, and usually black shoes, I noticed. Shiny black shoes. A lot of them also had weird peices of fabric hanging from their necks. Whatever the hell those were, they looked retarded.  
  
"Here we are," Trent snapped me out of my musings. "I'll take you inside, maybe they can check your head out."  
  
My head was fine, albeit it hurt a little, it wasn't as if I had a concussion or something.   
  
Trent ushered me to a seat in the waiting room and spoke with the lady at the desk, who kept giving me odd glances every now and then. At one point I swear I saw her stifle a giggle. Bitch. Wasn't my fault this Trent kid thought I had something wrong with my head.  
  
Trent came and sat beside me. "The chick at the desk said she'll fit you in to a doc, said about ten minutes you'd have to wait. Want me to come in with you when you see the doc? I never really liked docs much myself, so I'll come in with you if you want."  
  
"Yeah, sure." I muttered. I had no idea where I was or where Yuna was, and all that mattered to me at the moment was getting back to Yuna. Trent was going on about how when he was little he broke his ring finger on his left hand and the 'doc' didn't set it right, so now he could bend it and make it twitch and all sorts of weird things. I wasn't paying attention, but I looked over at his finger when he showed me just so I wouldn't seem rude.   
  
_'What the hell is going on? Did the Fayth do this, or am I just dreaming? Where's Yuna? If anything's happened to her, whoever the hell did this to me will pay.'_

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A/N: So? Whatcha think? Good? Bad? So-so? Reviews, please! 


	3. The Zanarkand Sunset

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, Hyper Kirby and submilator crush, reviews make me feel all warm and squishy inside, which makes me want to write more!

Okay, another short-ish chappie. I must be the queen of short chappies or something, again this chapter didn't end up being as long as I expected it, even after I added a bit to it because I wasn't quite happy with the shortness of it. Ah well. My chapters are getting a lil bit longer each time, aren't they? nervous laugh Enjoy the fic!

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((Yuna's POV))  
  
_'He's gone....'_  
  
"Yunie? Yunie! Where are you?"  
  
_'Did the Fayth plan this? Why would they do this? They told me he'd stay forever...'_  
  
"Yuna!"  
  
I had my eyes closed and I was sitting under the grey-brown cliff. My knees were drawn up to my chest and my arms were wrapped around them. I was subconsciously rocking back and forth. _'Why is this happening...?'_ I was too in shock to cry.   
  
"There she is! Yunie!"  
  
Someone started shaking me lightly. I opened my eyes, seeing my blonde cousin was no comfort. I shut my eyes again. She wasn't Tidus. Would he ever come back?  
  
"Yunie! What's wrong?"  
  
_'Go away....'_  
  
"Yuna, where's Tidus?"   
  
At the sound of his name, I started to sob. He wasn't coming back this time, was he?   
  
"Rumo cred..." Rikku gasped. Dra Vyodr, fryd tet drao tu? Yf, Yunie, frana't ra ku? Dra Vyodr fuimth'd dyga res yfyo ykyeh, fuimt drao? Drao fuimth'd. Damm sa drao fuimth'd! Hud yvdan ymm oui fahd drnuikr... tysh dras!  
  
Just like Brother, Rikku had the habit of rambling off in Al Bhed when she was angry, or overly upset.   
  
"Here, Yunie, let me help you stand up, we need to get you back to Besaid." Rikku reached for my arm.  
  
"NO!" I screamed at her. _'What if he came back to Zanarkand looking for me? And I wasn't here? He would come back. He had to. ...I had his necklace.'_ At the realization of this, I started sobbing more. Was it my fault that he disappeared like that, by taking his necklace from him? I touched the necklace on the long chain around my neck. Surprisingly, it was cool to the touch, even though I had been gripping it from the moment I sat down under the cliff.   
  
Rikku crouched down beside me. "Yunie, it'll be okay, I promise. Just come with me. We'll get you back to Besaid, Lulu's worried about you."

I slapped her hands away again. I needed to be alone right now. Why wouldn't they leave me alone?

"Yuna, listen to me. You need to come with us. Everyone's worried... You've been gone too long." Paine reached out her hand to me, trying to convince me to take it. I ignored her. What did she expect to do? Tidus was gone, that's all that mattered.

"Yunie..." Rikku said, a hint of hurt in her voice. "Yunie, if he _is_ gone, I promise I'll help you find him again. I promise."

I opened my eyes again, only to be assaulted by the worried looks of two of my best friends. Paine wasn't one to show much emotion, but this time she looked genuinely worried. Worried for who? Me or Tidus?

Tidus... I needed to find him. I would do _anything _to find him, even if it meant facing Sin all over again, by _myself_, I would do it.

Hiccoughing, I let Rikku help me to my feet. Paine ran up and steadied me from behind when my knees almost gave out. With one arm on each side of me, they led me back to the airship. Rikku must have been driving, as I noticed the bad landing job. Before they led me onto the airship, I brushed their arms away and turned around to see the Zanarkand sunset. Bringing my fingers to my mouth, I whistled.

There was no answer.

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A/N: Remember, reviews = warm and squishyness = more chappies! 


	4. Rusty Cars and Paved Roads

A/N: Aw, you guys, thanks for the reviews!   
  
Oceanbang - Well, you're going to have to wait and see, now won't you? :-p.  
  
HealerAriel - NO! My Tidus!! x.X. Wait.. I don't live in Vancouver either! Craaaaaaap... -picks up bags and moves to Vancouver-. Hah! NOW he's mine!! -raspberry- :-p

As far as chappies go, this might be the last one until around June 23rd or 24th, cause, well, I have finals coming up next week. GAARR. Sucks to be me, don't it? Yes yes go ahead, laugh at me for being in them silly Canadian schools with their messed up "Let's only give them two months worth of holidays in the summer!" crap. Blah. Yes. Finals. Okay. So, on to the chappie, yes? Wish me luck in my history and science finals? -Crosses fingers- Cause, well, ya know, if I don't do too good on either of them, then I'm screwed for the summer, and that means no more chappies! Heh. Anyway, enough of my mindless gibbering, on to the new chappie!

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** Chapter Four - Rusty Cars and Paved Roads**

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((Tidus' POV))  
  
_'The Zanarkand Sunrise... I promised her I would take her there to see it. My Zanarkand. How stupid was I to promise her that? There was no way I could keep that promise. What had I been thinking? My Zanarkand didn't exist anymore. That was a thousand years ago.. now it's in rui...'_  
  
I snapped my head around to Trent. "Did you just whistle?"  
  
"...Okay bud, now you're hearing things? Man I hope the doc can see ya soon, this can't be good..." Trent replied, obviously not hearing my question. So, obviously I repeated it.  
  
"Did you just whistle?"  
  
"No, guy. I told you that already."  
  
_'Uh, no, you didn't.'_ I sighed, exasperated. I was starting to actually believe Trent's idea of my head being fucked up, because obviously Yuna was too far away for me to hear her whistle.   
  
I bolted upright from my slouched position on the uncomfortable waiting-room chair. Or was she? Or maybe our bond was strong enough for me to hear her whistle from wherever the hell I was? I jumped out of my chair so quickly that I knocked it over. Not bothering to stop and pick it back up, I strode to the door to exit the medi-clinic, ignoring the confused stares of the receptionist and the other patients awaiting treatment. My head was fine. I needed to find Yuna. Now.   
  
"HEY! Tidus!" Trent nearly tripped out of his chair in his hurry to follow me. "Where the hell are you going? The receptionist just called your name, we can go get your head checked out now!"  
  
I turned around so quickly that Trent backed up a bit. "You know what? I'm feeling fine." My eyes had probably turned to the cold blue eyes that Yuna had never witnessed... mainly because I had never been this annoyed with her. Hopefully I never would. "I really need to find out what the hell's going on, though, and you're the one that's going to tell me." At that, I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the clinic.   
  
As soon as we got outside, Trent tried to yank his arm out from my grip, but he was too weak. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at me. "Let me go!"   
  
I turned around to him and made him promise to take me to his place. He agreed, and so I slowly loosened my grip on his wrist, mainly because passers-by were staring. Whether it was because of my clothing, or the fact that I was gripping Trent's wrist so hard it was hurting him, I didn't know.  
  
Trent rubbed his wrist as soon as I let go. "What the hell was that for?"  
  
"I needed to get out of there. I need to figure something out," I replied.  
  
"Figure what out?"  
  
_'I don't know, lets see. I need to figure out why the hell I'm in someplace I've never even heard of, who did it, where Yuna is, and why the hell I got stuck with you as someone to help me figure out all this stuff.'_ "Can you take me to your place?"  
  
"Uh.. sure, I guess... I don't think my 'rents will be too happy about me bringing a stranger home.. but I guess I could..." he said, almost reluctantly. "If they ask, you're a friend from school, alright buddy?"  
  
"Yeah. Whatever."  
  
At that, he set off in the same direction we had come from, and I followed him.

After about ten minutes of walking, we came up to a white, splotchy looking.. well, thing.

Trent stopped by the 'thing' and pulled a ring with small pieces of metal on it.

"What the hell is that?" I asked, pointing to what I thought looked like a hunk of scrap metal.  
  
Trent's face turned scarlet. "That's my.. car." he said as he stuck a small piece of metal into the side of the 'car'.  
  
_'A car, huh? Car.. car.. where have I heard that before? Maybe I haven't..'  
_  
Trent pointed to the opposite side of his car. "Get in that side. I don't suppose you want to slide over from the driver's side, do ya?"  
  
"Guess not." I replied. Walking over to the opposite side, I noticed a lot of rust on the door. Man, what did this kid do to this thing? I poked at part of the rust, which made it cave in a little. Heh. Whoops. This thing _was _a hunk of scrap metal, wasn't it?   
  
I opened the car door and sat down on the ripped seat and slammed the door shut, and I swear I heard a bit of the rust fall onto the pavement below the car.   
  
Trent took another piece of metal and stuck it into a slot just below a wheel that was protruding from the front of the car. "Put your seatbelt on, don't want you to do any more damage to that precious head of yours."  
  
"Huh?" I turned to him as I saw him click a piece of metal attached to some strong looking fabric into another metal slot.   
  
"Your seatbelt. Right there," He said, pointing to my right shoulder.   
  
"Oh, right," I said as I copied his movements. With the click of the seatbelt, he seemed satisfied, because he turned back to the piece of metal he left in the slot and turned it. The engine roared to life. Holy machina that thing was loud... Dammit, Rikku got me saying that...  
  
Trent turned the wheel to the left and lurched out onto the street. I gripped the side of my seat and held on for dear life. This kid was a worse driver than Rikku, and that was saying A LOT.   
  
"So, Tidus, where did you say you were from?" Trent asked.  
  
"I didn't." I replied. Well, I was pretty sure I hadn't said anything.  
  
"Well, where are you from, then?" Okay, now this kid was getting pushy...  
  
"Zanarkand." I replied, honestly not caring what his reaction was, but I slightly turned my head to look at him from the corner of my eyes anyway.   
  
"Zanarkand, huh? That in Africa or somethin'?" Trent said.  
  
"No. Spira."   
  
"Spira? Never heard of it."  
  
"Yeah, I gathered that much." It was starting to dawn on me that I really wasn't in Spira anymore. Where had I been transported to? What did he say earlier? Erath? No. Earth. _'You asstard!'_ I started mentally beating myself for not listening in history class. I was sure I had heard about this Earth before... Man. If I hadn't had such an inflated ego in school then maybe I would have learned something.   
  
We drove in silence the rest of the way to his place.   
  
Vancouver was... huge. Even Zanarkand didn't have this many people. And I thought Zanarkand was huge. Big understatement. Everywhere I looked there were more cars, more people, more buildings. We turned onto a long street that didn't seem to end, where the cars were moving much faster. Aw, shit, I hadn't been expecting this...   
  
I gripped the side of my seat tighter and squeezed my eyes shut as Trent picked up speed. Well, at least he hadn't sensed my nervousness. After all, this was my first time in a vehicle like this. I was used to traveling by foot most of the time, or the occasional Al Bhed hover.   
  
_'Oh, stop being such a wuss!'_ I chided myself. I opened my eyes slowly and my jaw went slack at what I saw.   
  
Pavement. Everywhere. Cars. Long, stretched out roads. Not a person walking in sight. Okay, it was official, Zanarkand was tiny compared to Vancouver. Sighing in relief, I realized after a few minutes that Trent was turning off the long stretch of road onto a more residential, secluded street.  
  
There it was again! I snapped my head to look out my window, searching for a clue. That whistle. There was no way it could be anyone else's but Yuna's. Sighing, I lent back onto the headrest of my seat and closed my eyes. I was tired. And hungry, I noted as my stomach gave a particularly loud growl, earning a glance from Trent.   
  
The car slowed down considerably and I opened my eyes.  
  
_'Woah...'_ I hadn't been expecting... this.  
  
Trent had turned onto a long curved driveway leading up to a huge two-storey house. The afternoon sun glinted off of the clear windows, and made the light blue paint shine on the house. From the look of Trent's falling apart car, I hadn't expected him to live in something like this. It was almost as big as Rikku's Home. Well... maybe not _quite_ that big...  
  
"Looks like my parents are out," stated Trent. It was the first thing he'd said to me in over a half hour. "Let's get you something to eat. Feel like some Mac'n'cheese?"  
  
"Uhh.. Sure." What the hell was mac'n'cheese? _'Oh well,'_ I decided. _'I'd even go so far as to eat a flame flan right about now.. so as long as it's food, why complain?' _

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A/N: Woah. WOAH. HOLY MACHINA!! (Sorry, had to! :-p) Long chappie for me, no? x.X -checks her temperature- Yes, I've definitely got a fever! :-p. Anyway, as I said before, I more than likely won't be doing any more chappies until after finals, but if I get an itch to write some more or if I get an idea that just _has_ to be put down, you guys might see some more chappies before finals. But you guys better not DARE take me away from my studying! I need to pass x.X. Anyway, Reviews = squishy me! (take that sickly and die...) 


	5. Spells and Sphere Grids

A/N: Yay! Finals are over! Woah. Okay. So, let's hope I passed history and science, no? Blah. -shakes a fist at evil teachers- anyway.... I apologize for the long wait for you -er- faithful readers... (?) but you know with finals and all that I couldn't update, unfortunately. Anyway, onward to the next chappie!!

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**Chapter Five - Spells and Sphere Grids**

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((Yuna's POV))

"Yunie? We're going to board the airship now, you're still coming, right?"

I was sitting on my bed playing around with one of my sphere grids, changing dress spheres one after another for something to get my mind off of what happened to Tidus.

"Yunie? Come on, Brother's getting antsy." my cousin poked her head through the flap of the hut I shared with Wakka and Lulu since I was a child.

_Berserker. Gunner. Black mage. Trainer. Mascot. Songstress._

Rikku came and grabbed the sphere grid out of my hand. "Yunie, what are you doing?"

"N-nothing..." I replied. I reached for the sphere grid but Rikku kept it out of my reach. "Rikku, please give me my sphere grid, I want to change back then I'll come on the ship."

"Fine," Rikku sighed as she handed me back my sphere grid. "Be quick or Brother will leave without you... no, he'd only leave without me!" She dashed out the door.

Sighing, I changed into my black mage dressphere. So what if people were going to look at me funnily, as it was not my usual outfit. It fit my mood for the moment. Besides, if I wanted to, I could convince anyone I wanted to to leave me alone by a simple spell.

I lifted the flap of the hut that served as a door and stepped out into the blinding sunlight.

"Yunie! What are you wearing!!" Rikku yelled from the airship deck. Paine stood beside her, grinning, which was a rare sight.

I walked over to the airship and created a set of stairs out of ice. I loved this dressphere. Walking up to the airship deck, I was greeted by the confused look of Rikku. Oh well, let her be confused. It's not like she didn't dress in clothes other than her thief outfit once in a while.

"Brother, we're ready!" I shouted into the intercom hidden in the Gullwings symbol at the front of the airship. I was ready. I was going to find Tidus.

"Rogggggggerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!" Brother shouted back, catching the attention of a few Besaidians. Brother always liked making a big deal about driving the airship, it made him feel special or something, I guess.

"Lady Yuna! Lady Yuna!!" A group of small children, about six to eight years old were shouting up at the airship deck as the ship was starting to take off. It had become tradition that whenever I left Besaid on the airship I would do something special with my magic. Raising my arms into the air beside me, I called on the most powerful water spell I could manage. Flicking my wrists, I sent water droplets cascading down onto Besaid village. The spell was strong enough that the rain would probably stay long enough to give Besaid village enough much-needed moisture. I could hear everybody cheer faintly, but only faintly, because right then, I fell over into Paine, and blacked out.

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_"Yuna! Yuna! Where am I? I don't know where I am... help me, Yuna!"_

"TIDUS!" I jerked awake and sat bolt upright on the bed I had been placed on. I looked frantically around the room, but only saw the stoic gaze of Paine, sitting on the bed beside me.

Paine got up and came and sat beside me. "Yuna, it's okay," Paine said as she rubbed my back in a circular motion. "We'll find him. It was just a dream."

"N-no it wasn't," I said through my stuttered sobs. "It wasn't just a dream, he was calling to me, I know it."

"Calling to you or not, we can't do anything until we get to Bevelle and ask the Fayth if they had anything to do with this."

"The Fayth?" I was confused. "They're all gone, We fought them all, remember?" I looked at Paine, her scarlet eyes had a hint of laughter in them. Only a hint.

"Actually, Shinra found out that the little boy Fayth whose Aeon is Bahamut has been spotted at Bevelle temple. Rikku and I decided while you were blacked out that we should start there, maybe he knows something that can help us find Tidus."

I sighed. I didn't want to ask the Aeons for any more help, they had helped me enough as it was. "Okay." I stared at the floor as I played with Tidus' necklace.

"Did Tidus give you that?" Paine pointed at the necklace clutched in my fist.

"Yes." I replied. "Right before he disappeared."

"Right before he disappeared?" Paine said. "Hmm..."

"Hmm what?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing" Paine sighed. "Just thinking, that's all."

"Oh." I said, disappointed. I had thought she was onto something.

"Y'know," Paine said. "You really need to learn how to control the amount of energy you put into your magic. That's the third time you've blacked out while we left Besaid."

I hated to admit it, but Paine was right. Maybe this time my emotions had just taken over when I cast the waterga spell as we left. It's not like it was my fault! I didn't plan on Tidus disappearing again, especially after only a few days with him.

**We're almost at Bevelle**, Buddy announced over the intercom. **Yuna, you up?**

"Yes." I replied.

**Good. We'll be there in about three minutes so get ready to confront some Aeon!**

Sighing, I changed back into my Gunner dressphere and pocketed my sphere grid. "Let's go to the deck," I said to Paine.

"Roger, Capitan!" Paine joked. She was starting to change a little, I noticed, she was smiling a bit more often, and had more of an outward sense of humor.

When we arrived on the deck, I saw Rikku standing at the front of the ship, her arms spread wide on either side of her. Paine motioned for me to be quiet and she started stealthily sneaking up on Rikku from behind. I followed behind Paine quietly.

As we got closer to Rikku, we could hear her humming the Gullwings song that Shinra made up sometime during our journey to save Spira again.

"NEGGI NEGGI NEGGI!!!" Paine shouted, using Rikku's Al Bhed name as she grabbed her arms.

"RUMO CRED PAINE!" Rikku yelled, cussing in Al Bhed. "You nearly made me fall off the airship!!" Rikku whined.

"Did not!!"

"Did too!!"

"Did not!!"

"Did too!!"

"Minus three respect points, Rikku!" Paine said as she blew a raspberry in her direction.

"No faaaaaaair!" Rikku whined. "You're the one that scared meeeeee!"

**Girls, let's settle down**, Buddy advised through the intercom. **We're landing in Bevelle now, please don't make the Gullwings look like a group of Kinderguardians, okay?**

As the airship touched down, I saw in disbelief that the Bevelle Temple was engulfed in flames.

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A/N: Well, how was it? Hopefully it was worth the wait! Reviews are always welcome, because guess what? They make me feel gushy and make me want to write more! -nods-. Next chappie should be up soon, hopefully... cause this chapter I really struggled through in finding ideas about what to write. Hopefully the next chapter will be easier for me... 


	6. Now that was kinda stupid, Tidus

A/N: Okay, I found a title for my fic that I'm happy with. The previous title, 'Treasure Hunt for Love' really wasn't my cup of tea, and HealerAriel thought of it for me for a filler until I could get my writers block shoved out of my head for a title. Thanks for the filler, Erin! -nods-  
  
HealerAriel - Yeah, I figured Paine really needed a sense of humor... don't ask me where it came from, though . Nope, fiery temple is never a good sign, but alas, you will have to wait until the next chappie to find out, cause this chappie is Tidus'!  
  
Morning Yuna - Uhm... who are you? . I don't know of anybody that's had a boyfriend that was in a coma...   
  
Uh.. anyway... on to the chappie!! -shifts eyes and hides under bed-  
  
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Chapter Six - Now that was kinda stupid, Tidus  
  
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((Tidus' POV))  
  
Trent led me into the kitchen and rummaged around in a cupboard and pulled out (with much effort, that cupboard was stuffed) a large silver pot which he filled with water from the sink and placed on the stove. He then opened another cupboard and pulled out several colourful cardboard boxes and ripped the tops off of them. Counting them, I saw four. Four? For two people? Uh..  
  
"Why are you making four boxes? There's only two of us..."  
  
"I'm making extra cause when my sibs get back they might want some." Trent answered, his back still to me. "They love this stuff... so do I, actually, and even if they don't get home till it's cold then we can have extra for ourselves."  
  
"Ah. I see. Okay." I said as I pulled out a chair from the table and sat down.   
  
Trent boosted himself up onto the counter near the stove so he could watch the water in the pot. "So..." he started.  
  
"So." I replied. _'This kid isn't big on conversation when he has nothing to talk about, is he?'_  
  
"Uh... tell me about this Zanarkand place you come from." Trent made a weak attempt at starting a conversation.  
  
"What's there to tell you about? It doesn't exist the way I knew it anymore." Okay, so maybe I was still a bit bitter about my Zanarkand being gone and all, but why should I be? I had Yuna... well, had her.. until I ended up here...  
  
"Oh," Trent said, but his curiosity still got the better of him. "So, did it like, get bombed or something?"  
  
I sighed. "You could say that, I guess."  
  
"You guess? What happened to it, man?" Trent, noticing the water was boiling, extracted a white pouch from each of the boxes and dumped the contents of the boxes into the pot and gave it a stir. "Like, either it got bombed, or it didn't."  
  
"You wouldn't undesrstand..." I stated. How could he? He didn't even know Spira existed, probably.. I hadn't seen any airships around, so how could he? How could anyone here?   
  
"Try me," he implored. "How could I not understand? It's not like it's that complicated..."  
  
I snorted. "You'd be surprised."   
  
"C'mon, just tell me. I promise I'll listen and ask questions later..." He begged and did a puppy-eye face at me.  
  
_'Okay.. that was just a LITTLE creepy, having a GUY do a puppy-face at me....'_  
  
My face must have shown how creeped out I was by having a guy do a puppy-face at me because he stopped abruptly and picked up the wooden spoon to stir the contents of the pot again.  
  
"Please?" He asked.   
  
I sighed again. "Fine. But later, right now I'm too hungry to explain."  
  
"Okay man, later. You promise?"  
  
"Yes. I promise," I assured him.   
  
After about ten minutes of silence from both of us, Trent scooped out one of the noodles out of the pot and put it in his mouth. Satisfied, he pushed himself off the counter and reached into a drawer and pulled out a strainer and dumped the contents of the pot into the strainer over the sink.   
  
"You wanna grab the milk and butter outta the fridge for me, bud?" He asked. I wish he'd stop calling me bud, it got kind of annoying after a while.   
  
"Yeah, sure." Pushing myself off the chair, I went over to the appliance he was pointing to and opened the door. _'Crap.. what do their milk and butter containers look like here?'_ I wondered to myself as I scanned the shelves, pushing things aside in my search. On to the next shelf. Ah, there it was. Labeled in nice, big, bold letters, MILK. Still didn't see the butter, though.  
  
"The butter's on the door of the fridge" Trent said as he shook the noodles in the strainer to get the excess water out.   
  
There it was. Grabbing it, I shut the door on the fridge and set the milk and butter on the counter for Trent. Why this concoction needed two of basically the same products was beyond me.   
  
Trent ripped open the white packages and dumped them into the pot that he had set on the counter. Curious, I peered into the pot.   
  
_'........What the hell!'_ I shouted inside my head. _'That stuffs like fluorescent orange!!'  
_  
Trent continued to stir the orange stuff in the pot, apparently unaware of my current facial expression, which was probably a mixture of horror/disgust/shock. Trent poured some milk into the pot and put in a spoonful of butter and set me to the task of stirring it while he grabbed some bowls and forks and set them on the counter beside the pot.   
  
"That should be about good, I think," Trent said as he took the wooden spoon out of my hand and started filling the bowls with the gunk. He handed me a bowl, took one for himself and went to sit down at the kitchen table. I followed suit and sat in the adjacent chair at the table.   
  
Looking up at Trent, I realized he had already started eating the stuff. _'Okay, time to be brave, Tidus...'_ I thought to myself as I stabbed a few pieces of the 'mac'n'cheese' onto my fork. I brought it up to eye-level to get a good look at it. _'Well, the fluorescent orange has dulled a bit.. if that's a good sign...'_ I sniffed the noodles. _'Smells half-decent...'  
_  
Trent was giving me a weird look. "Never had mac'n'cheese before, Tidus?" he asked.  
  
"Nuh-uh." I replied, still studying the stabbed noodles on my fork.  
  
Taking a deep breath, I put the noodles in my mouth and started to chew.  
  
"HOLY SHIT THIS STUFFS GOOD!!" I yelled, shoving more of the macaroni noodles into my mouth. In about ten seconds I had leaped off my chair and went to the pot for another helping.  
  
Trent stared at me in disbelief as I devoured my second bowl of mac'n'cheese. What? I couldn't help it if this stuff was good!   
  
"You might want to slow down a bit, Ty... Too much at once can't be.. er... good for you..."  
  
"I'll be fiiiiine!" I crowed, already making my way back to the pot for thirds. This time, I just brought the entire pot back to the table and used the wooden spoon to spoon huge amounts into my mouth at once. Man, I really needed to learn how to cook this stuff!  
  
"You want any more?" I offered the wooden spoon to Trent but he shook his head.   
  
"Nah, I'll be fine... you eat as much as you want... I don't think my sibs will be back any time soon anyway...." He replied.  
  
Trent was scraping the last of the noodles out of his bowl just as I was spooning the last noodles into my mouth. I leant back, satisfied at my accomplishment. I had just devoured about three and a half boxes of pure heaven. Sighing, I laced my fingers together and put them behind my head and leant back into my chair.   
  
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"I told you that you should have taken it slower," Trent's voice was muffled by the closed bathroom door.  
  
"I said I'm fi..." I couldn't finish my sentence because, alas, the pure heavenly cheesy goodness was making its way back up my throat and into the toilet in front of me.   
  
"You should have told me you were lactose intolerant and I would have made something else, dude." Trent said in exasperation.  
  
"What the hell is lactose?" I asked through the door.   
  
"Duno, some chemical or some crap that's in milk that a lot of people can't handle so they puke it back up," Trent replied.   
  
"Good analogy."   
  
"Uh.. thanks?" Trent said. "You almost done in there? You musta puked at least four times already..."  
  
_'Make that five...'_ I thought to myself as my stomach emptied what little contents were left into the toilet.   
  
"Okay, five..." Trent sighed. "I'll get you a towel and some water, okay buddy? You'll be fine, just get as much as you can outta your system.. my youngest sister is lactose intolerant, so, sadly, I know there's nothing much else you can do." I heard the floor outside the bathroom creak as he walked back down the stairs to the kitchen.  
  
Laying my forehead against the cool metal of the bathtub, I started wondering what Yuna was doing right this second. Was she frantically looking for me? In a way, I hoped not. I didn't want her to panic and get all emotional like she apparently did when I disappeared for the first time, right after Sin was defeated. Something that should have been a happy occasion was turned sad for Yuna, by me. I sighed. What else was there for me to do, but wait for Yuna to find me? How was I supposed to find her when I didn't even know how I got to Vancouver in the first place?  
  
There was a knock on the bathroom door. "It's me," Trent said. "Can I come in now?"  
  
"Yeah," I said weakly. Man, puking your guts out five or more times really wore you out.  
  
Trent opened the door and walked in. Shutting the lid on the toilet, he put the towel on top and gave me the glass of water he was holding.  
  
"Thanks.." I said as I sipped the water a bit. "Ugh. I'm never going to do that again..."  
  
"Yeah, might not be a very smart idea," Trent commented as he turned on the tap in the sink and wet the facecloth he was holding. "Here, wipe your face off with this, it'll make you feel better."  
  
I caught he washcloth he tossed me with surprising accuracy for the little amount of strength I had at that moment. Wiping the cool cloth on my face did help, a little. Trent offered me the clean towel that he had placed on the toilet lid and I took it gratefully, wiping my face with it.  
  
"You oughta lay down for a bit, have a bit of a rest, might make you feel better when you get back up," Trent told me.  
  
"Yeah... a nap would be nice..."  
  
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A/N: So, what'd you think? I only got one review (I don't really think I can count that Yuna girl's review as a review, really...) for the last chappie... is anyone else reading my fic? Reviews are what assure me of that... because, sadly, it's not like I can magically know how many people are actually reading this. Constructive criticism is always welcomed, or comments, etc! I'm desperate!! x.x.... Okay maybe not -desperate- but I do enjoy reviews! Thankies! -bows-


	7. Dousing the fire

A/N: Is anyone besides my HealerAriel darling reading this? Cause last chappie I only had one review, which was by my darling HealerAriel. I know there are probably (and hopefully!) other people reading this that don't leave reviews, but remember, reviews are my lifeblood! (okay maybe not, but they make me want to write more!). So even if you don't like leaving reviews, could you pretty please just leave me a teeny comment on what you like/don't like about the story, how I can improve my writing, etc? Thanks!

HealerAriel: Yep, Tidus better be careful or some more of the newfangled Earth food might upset his tummy too! –mischievous snicker-

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**Chapter Seven – Dousing the fire**

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((Yuna's POV))

"Yuna!!" Paine shouted just as I had leaped off the deck of the airship to run towards the temple. There weren't enough black mages to douse the fire, I was going to help.

Fiddling around in the pouch on my belt I snatched my sphere grid and quickly turned into a black mage as I ran. "Rikku! Paine!" I shouted over my shoulder. "Come help me!"

"Coming, Yunie!" Rikku shouted back at me as she slid off the deck of the airship and changed into a black mage as well.

I slid to a stop into an empty space in the row of black mages already dousing the temple with their water spells. This time I knew needed to use all of my strength into the one giant spell I had used over Besaid. Slowly I drew my arms up past my sides to above my head as the multicolored spirals of my magic started to surround my body.

"Yuna! NO!" Paine shouted from behind me. Fortunately she wasn't close enough to stop me from summoning a more powerful spell than I had in Besaid.

Flicking my wrists, I focused all my magic into creating a giant cloud of rain right above the temple. Right before I blacked out, I could see the giant droplets of rain start to fall upon the temple, helping the other black mages to douse the temple in water.

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_"Yuna, he needs you to find him..." a familiar voce echoed inside my head. _

_"Where is he? Is he alright?"_

_"Oh yes... he's fine... but not for long..." the voice replied._

"_Where is he?! I need to find him! I don't want him to disappear again!!"_

"_Oh he won't disappear... not yet... but he may disappear if he stays where he is too much longer." The little boy Fayth appeared in front of me. "I can't tell you where he is... but I can show you."_

_Right before my eyes, I could suddenly see Tidus as if I were staring at him through a slightly rippling pond. He was laying on a couch in a setting unfamiliar to me. "Tidus!!" I shouted right into his ear, it seemed. It had no effect. "Tidus! I'm coming to find you, I promise!" Tears started to flow down my cheeks as the vision of him faded into another of a view of a house. That then faded into a view of a planet. An unfamiliar planet._

"_You can find him here." The Fayth whispered. "I may be able to help you find him, just not yet. Soon. I will let you know when."_

_The image of the boy faded. I screamed out in frustration inside my own head. Tidus was there, within my reach, and I couldn't do anything to help him!_

"_Yunie! Yunie, get up!" _

_I turned around, looking for the source of the voice. _

"_Rikku just leave her, she'll come out of it soon enough."_

"_But we need to tell her what happened to the statue of the Fayth in the temple!" The voice of my seventeen-year-old cousin whined in reply._

"_That can wait until she gets up! There's no rush!" _

"_But what if she..."_

_The voice of my cousin was replaced by the voice of the boy._

"_It is time..." He held out his hand. "Hold on."_

_Taking his hand in mine, I could feel the ice cold touch of the Fayth. _

"_I can only help you get there. You are going to have to find your own way back, Yuna." The Fayth explained. "Do you understand?"_

_I nodded._

_-------------_

When I opened my eyes, I was staring up into the bewildered faces of people standing around me. And my head hurt. A lot.

"Is she going to be alright?" someone from the circle of people whispered to another onlooker. "She went down pretty hard..."

Pushing myself up onto my elbows and then into a sitting position I observed the people around me. They all wore strange clothing; I couldn't see the robes of the Bevelle monks or the pointed hats of the black mages anywhere. Where had the Fayth taken me? I surely wasn't in Spira anymore...

"Here, take this." A female voice said beside me. "Put it on your bump, to keep the swelling down."

"Thanks..." I murmured as I took the cold object from the woman beside me and pressed it to the large bump on the back of my head. I winced.

"We should get you to a doctor, would you like me to take you?"

I turned my head towards the woman that had given me the cold thing to put on my head and nodded.

"My name's Amy, what's yours?"

"Yuna." I replied.

"Come with me Yuna, we'll get you to a doctor... you need to get your head checked out after that fall of yours." She offered her arm and helped me up off the cement.

"Seco.. ... tha.. come around wi.. those st...... cloth..." I barely heard someone whisper behind me. Did that mean Tidus was here, too? I had to find him before time ran out.

"Follow me, Yuna. We'll get you to the closest Emerg." Amy said and took my hand like I was a little five year old and led me out of the crowd and into the strange new world I was in.

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Well? Hopefully it was worth the uber long wait... I just kinda get a little sad when people don't leave me purtyful reviewses. Just drop a note and let me know that you're reading it and even that makes me happy enough to want to type up another chappie, yes it does! So pleeeeease, review, it makes Indigofaery happy, yes! 


	8. A Flicker of Hope

A/N: AHH!! I'm so so so so so so so sorry that it took me so long to finally get a new chappie up, for any of you who are reading this and wanted to know what happened next. AHH. Sorry sorrysorrysorry X.x. Blame it on a bad case of writers block and school and whatever else you want to blame it on cause I'm majorly sorry and I'll try to update more often. –nervous laugh-.

And thankie to my reviewers, I loove getting reviews, they make me feel all warm and happy inside. –squee-

Anywho, onto the chappie! (I apologize in advance if this is a boring chapter or badly written or anything cause I need to get out of my writers block so this chapter is forced with no previous ideas and whatnot, so sorrie if it sucks!)

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**Chapter Eight – A flicker of hope**

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((Tidus' POV))

"You can lay down here," Trent said to me as he pointed to a rather squishy looking couch.

"Okay, thanks…" I replied. I really felt worn out after that pukefest I had in the bathroom. A little rest would do me good, I hoped.

Trent pointed to a chair. "There's a blanket right there if you need it and just help yourself to the pillows and stuff."

"Okay," I said and I reached for the blanket strewn across the chair. I sat down on the couch, made a nice pile of pillows for my head, and lay down, falling asleep almost instantly.

"_Tidus…"_

_Huh?_

"_Tidus…!"_

"_Who's there?"_

"_It's me, the fayth of Bahamut. I have some good news for you…"_

_I turned around, searching for the source of the voice, but all I could see was absolute darkness._

"_Do you want to hear my news…?" The fayth asked me._

"_Yes, yes I want to hear it! What is it?" I said impatiently_

"_Yuna has found her way out of Spira and into this strange new planet you find yourself in. She wants to find you, help her find you Tidus."_

_Yuna? Here? How? How was she supposed to find me in this place? Was she even in Vancouver, or did she get dropped someplace who knows how far away?_

"_Where is she? Is she near me? How will she find me?" I asked the fayth_

_Bahamut's fayth appeared faintly before my eyes. "I can't tell you that, Tidus. That is something you have to figure out on your own. She only has a certain amount of time to find you, and if that runs out…"_

"_Then what? What, huh?! How long will it take her to find me?!" I said in frustration._

"_We fayth can't keep on dreaming forever, Tidus…" Bahamut's fayth said as he started to slowly fade. "Help her find you, Tidus…"_

_Suddenly, before my eyes I could see Yuna. She was with a strange woman, walking towards a doctor's clinic. The same clinic Trent had tried to take me to! That meant Yuna was in Vancouver! Now how the hell am I supposed to find her? Vancouver is so huge…_

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I sat up quickly, tossing the blanket to the floor, reaching for my sword but it was then I realized I didn't have it with me.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

I looked over to the source of the noise, a little girl who looked to be about six or so years old.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed again.

I put my hands over my ears to shut out the earsplitting sound.

Trent rushed into the room. "What the hell's going on in here?!" He shouted over the little girl's screaming.

When the little girl realized Trent had come into the room, she ran and hid behind him.

"Ah, I see what's going on." Trent said. He turned around and picked up the girl and turned her towards me. "Julie, there's no reason to be afraid, this is my friend Tidus… from school."

The little girl whimpered and hid her face in Trent's neck.

"Sorry about that, dude, she doesn't take to strangers very well…"

I shrugged and sat back down on the couch.

If Yuna was in Vancouver, I needed to find her. And fast.

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A/N: Well I hope that was worth the wait.. I don't know if it was or not because nothing really happened except seeing what happens when Tidus realizes Yuna's in the same place as him… so yes. Reviews are always wanted and stuff cause I like to know if people are actually reading my stories and stuffs. I love reviewers, and if you review you can have a cookie!! 


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